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Best Web Hosting Providers: A2Hosting, HostGator and More

We compared some of the most popular web hosting services so you don’t have to.

There are a lot of great reasons to start your own website. Whether you’re looking to create your own blog, kick off a side hustle or build a portfolio, there’s no better time than right now to build a website. It’s an exciting process, too. Picking your own personal design to represent yourself is one of the many exhilarating parts of building your new website. However, there’s a lot more to it than just clicking around and hitting save when you’re happy.

First off, you need to have an idea for what your site should contain or be about, and you have to choose a company to house your website. The number of web hosting services can be confusing and the choice can be hard. So we looked over the data for 22 web hosting services to make things a little easier on you.

You can read more about our criteria for web hosting services, including how we assess security and customer support, and you can check out important web hosting terms to know.

Note: Pricing for web hosting is a bit tricky to follow. Listed prices are generally introductory rates attached to contracts that usually last a year or more and renew at the regular (higher) rate at contract’s end. Make sure to take regular rates into account when trying to figure out a long-term hosting provider. You can also see our recommendations for how web hosting providers should advertise their prices.

Best web hosting services

Other web hosting services to consider

These services don’t offer one of the three hosting options, don’t include sufficient security features, an uptime guarantee or have some limited customer service options. The following services aren’t as robust as our top picks, but they’re still reasonable offerings.


More web hosting services we looked at

Most of these services specialize in one type of hosting, like shared or WordPress, which means they’re not the best if you plan to grow your site. They also tend to be missing some security features and customer support options. However, they could be right for you and your needs if you have specific or smaller-scale hosting needs.

Liquid Web: No shared hosting. Security features include an integrated firewall and standard DDoS protections. Offers 99.99% uptime and 24/7 chat or phone support. Prices start at $15 a month.

Web Hosting Hub: Offers shared and WordPress hosting. Has free SSL certificates but other security features cost extra. Offers 99.9% uptime and has 24/7 chat and phone support. Prices start at $6 a month.

WP Engine: Offers WordPress hosting. Security features like free SSL certificates and daily backups. Has a 99.95% uptime guarantee and offers 24/7 chat and phone support. Prices start at $20 a month.

Kinsta: Offers WordPress hosting. Security features like free SSL certificates and automatic backups. Has a 99.9% uptime and 24/7 chat support. Prices start at $35 a month.

Pantheon: Offers WordPress hosting. Security features include DDoS protection and automated backups. Offers 99.9% uptime and customer support is available 24/7 via chat, phone or even Slack. Prices start at $41 a month.

Criteria for web hosting services

While we didn’t test the services, we did carefully examine each service’s offerings and ranked them according to essential web hosting features. Here’s what we looked for to determine the best web hosting services. You can also check out CNET’s 11 things to know about web hosting for more information about these and other features.

  • Hosting plans: We checked to see if the service offered shared, VPS and dedicated hosting plans. Inclusion of all three plan types allows customers to scale their plan up as their site grows.
  • Security features: Services need to include some basic security features such as SSL certificates, DDoS protections and backups to protect your data as well as your visitors’. The best web hosts do this at no extra charge.
  • Uptime of 99.9% or higher: An uptime of 99.9% or higher ensures your site won’t go down for more than 20 minutes a month, so you keep losses of readers and sales to a minimum.
  • Customer support: All services offer some kind of customer support. Some say they offer customer service 24/7, but they mean you can email them any time. That’s a good start, but what if you have an issue that needs immediate attention? Some offer live chat which is better, and others offer phone support which is best.

The best web hosting services meet all four of those criteria. If a service falls short on one or more of those measures, you’ll find it in our list of other web hosting services to consider or our list of additional web hosts we looked at.

Web hosting terms to know

Some web hosting terms can be confusing. If a term in this list or on a web hsoting service’s site has you scratching your head, I’m going to explain them in more detail here.

FAQ

You can check out CNET’s web hosting FAQ or tips to help secure your site for more information, too.

For more on web hosting, check out the best website builders, the best VPN services and the best identity theft protection services.

Technologies

Grammarly Pushes Beyond Proofreading With AI-Powered Writing Guidance

Grammarly dropped agents to spot plagiarism, cite sources and maybe even boost your GPA.

Grammarly is expanding beyond its grammar-checking roots. The company has announced the launch of several specialized AI «agents» and a new writing tool called Grammarly Docs, designed to help students and professionals with everything from drafting essays to polishing workplace emails.

It’s another example of generative AI expanding beyond general-purpose chatbots like ChatGPT and Gemini into more specialized domains. Other examples of gen AI in educational circles include Google’s NotebookLM and OpenAI’s new study mode for ChatGPT.

AI agents are digital helpers that go beyond traditional chatbots to understand context and assist in reaching your goals. Grammarly’s AI agents assist by offering feedback, predicting reactions, finding sources and more to increase efficiency in workflows. 

Read also: Grammarly AI: This Free AI Tool Will Easily Fix Your Grammar

What’s available now for Grammarly AI

The update introduces nine agents that move Grammarly into a more collaborative role. Instead of just correcting grammar or suggesting phrasing, the agents are intended to actively work alongside users. One predicts how a professor or manager might respond to a draft. Another offers an estimated grade based on an uploaded rubric. Others handle citation generation, proofreading, paraphrasing, plagiarism checks and AI detection. The tools are built directly into Docs, a «distraction-free» writing environment where all the agents can be summoned in context, according to the company.

As students head back to classrooms and colleges, Grammarly is looking to position itself as a study companion and writing coach rather than merely a browser extension. The company cites research showing that while only a small share of students feel confident using AI in professional settings (18%), most employers expect AI literacy from job candidates. By emphasizing skill-building and responsible use, Grammarly says it wants to bridge that gap rather than simply automate assignments.

«The launch of our new agents and AI writing surface marks a turning point in how we build products that anticipate user needs,» Luke Behnke, Grammarly’s vice president of product management, said in the company’s press release. «We’re moving beyond simple suggestions to intelligent agents that understand context and actively help users achieve their communication goals.» 

For professionals, Grammarly is marketing the tools as a way to tailor communication for different audiences. The Reader Reactions agent, for example, can highlight whether an email comes across as too vague or too blunt. And the Expert Review tool provides industry-specific feedback without requiring specialized prompts.

The launch also marks the debut of Docs as a standalone writing hub. Until now, Grammarly has functioned mostly as a browser extension layered on top of other apps, like Chrome or Google Docs. Grammarly Docs signals a push to keep users inside the platform’s own environment, though the company says it will expand agent functionality to the more than half a million apps and sites where its tools already appear.

The new features are rolling out immediately for free and premium subscribers, though plagiarism and AI detection remain locked behind the paid plan. Enterprise and education customers will also gain access later this year.

Early reactions to Grammarly’s AI agents 

Early reactions suggest strong interest from students and educators alike as the company shifts from a grammar checker to a productivity platform. Educators have noted the potential benefits and risks of tools like the AI Grader. Some users on social media welcomed the update as a way to cut through the anxiety of essay writing, while others questioned whether it might make students too dependent on machine feedback.

The launch comes just months after Grammarly raised $1 billion to fuel its AI pivot and acquired the email startup Superhuman. Together, those moves point to an ambitious strategy for the company: one that seeks to transform Grammarly from a background utility into a full-fledged productivity suite powered by AI. 

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Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for Aug. 20, #1523

Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle No. 1,523 for Wednesday, Aug. 20.

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.


Today’s Wordle puzzle is a fun word. Two letters repeat, so don’t forget once you find a correct letter, you can reuse it in another spot. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.

Today’s Wordle hints

Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.

Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats

Today’s Wordle answer has two separate repeated letters.

Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels

Today’s Wordle answer has one vowel, and it’s one of the repeated letters, so you’ll see it twice.

Wordle hint No. 3: Start letter.

Today’s Wordle answer begins with L.

Wordle hint No. 4: Animal kingdom

Today’s Wordle answer is an animal.

Wordle hint No. 5: Second meaning

Today’s Wordle answer is a domesticated pack animal of the camel family.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is LLAMA.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, No. 1,522 for Aug. 19, was ROWDY.

Recent Wordle answers

Aug. 15, No. 1,518: LEVEL

Aug. 16 No. 1,519: MATTE

Aug. 17, No. 1,520: LOUSY

Aug. 18, No. 1,521: ISSUE

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Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for Aug. 20, #801

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle No. 801 for Wednesday, Aug. 20.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.


Today’s NYT Connections puzzle is a real headache. The NYT puzzle writers are really pulling some obscure connections out of the air, and I did not do well today at all. Need some help? Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group, to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Ebony and ivory.

Green group hint: They go together.

Blue group hint: Spinning.

Purple group hint: There’s a bend in these.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Black-and-white things.

Green group: Pairs of rods.

Blue group: Things that rotate about a vertical axis.

Purple group: Rods that curve at one end.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is black-and-white things. The four answers are domino, piano keys, yin-yang symbol and zebra.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is pairs of rods. The four answers are chopsticks, claves, knitting needles and ski poles.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is things that rotate about a vertical axis. The four answers are barber pole, carousel, ceiling fan and lazy Susan.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is rods that curve at one end. The four answers are candy cane, crochet hook, crook and crowbar.

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